Japan enlists Toyota, Boeing, Uber to help develop flying cars

Group of 21 companies brought together to bring flying cars to the skies in the 2020s

The Japanese government is hoping to give the flying car industry a boost by bringing together technology, automotive and aeronautical companies.

Companies participating in the government initiative include Uber, Boeing, Airbus, NEC, ANA, Japan Airlines, Yamato Holdings, and Cartivator, a startup backed by Toyota.

In a release seen by Bloomberg, the Japanese government has created a working group to propel the country to forefront of the flying car industry. The country hopes to have flying cars in the sky some time in the next decade.

The group will have its first meeting on the August 29, where it will lay out a plan for the rest of the year.

“The Japanese government will provide appropriate support to help realise the concept of flying cars, such as creation of acceptable rules,” the ministry told news services.

Hiroshige Seko, Japan’s minister of economy, trade and industry, told reporters earlier this month how flying cars could ease traffic in cities, or provide another transport option for the country’s remote islands and mountain regions. They could also be used by Japan’s tourism industry.

Ride-sharing service Uber is already working on its own air taxi service, which it hopes to begin trialling in 2020 and have in commercial operation by 2023.